<?php
/**
 * <https://y.st./>
 * Copyright © 2018 Alex Yst <mailto:copyright@y.st>
 * 
 * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 * (at your option) any later version.
 * 
 * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
 * GNU General Public License for more details.
 * 
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 * along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org./licenses/>.
**/

$xhtml = array(
	'<{title}>' => 'Fate and evil',
	'takedown' => '2017-11-01',
	'<{body}>' => <<<END
<img src="/img/CC_BY-SA_4.0/y.st./weblog/2018/07/05.jpg" alt="A paved, forested path with a hand rail" class="framed-centred-image" width="649" height="480"/>
<section id="meta">
	<h2>Website work</h2>
	<p>
		I&apos;ve attempted to get the website set up with the new host using GitLab pages.
		It didn&apos;t work.
		A series of technical of technical difficulties got in the way at first, and one by one, I either solved the problem myself or got help solving it.
		Many of these difficulties stemmed from the fact that GitLab pages take more effort to set up than GitHub pages, and I wasn&apos;t familiar with the process.
		In other words, GitHub dumbs the process down quite a bit.
		I get the impression that GitLab pages offer more flexibility, it&apos;s just flexibility I don&apos;t think I can make work for me given that I sign all my pages and GitLab can&apos;t have my signing key.
	</p>
	<p>
		At one point, the problem was that the server wasn&apos;t configured to accept a website as large as mine (writing a journal page each day adds up).
		The server owner claimed the server could handle the site, but not the initial upload of it.
		I asked if the site could be uploaded with incremental commits, and it seems it could be.
		The administrator instead upped the upload limit though, so the site could be uploaded all at once.
		At this point, the site supposedly worked but returned a <code>404</code> error instead of the main page.
		The administrator informed me that their Web server doesn&apos;t treat <code>index.xhtml</code> files as directory indexes and instructed me to change the file names to <code>index.html</code>.
		I explained about improper <code>Content-Type</code> headers, but they claimed their Web server was configured to send <code>Content-Type</code> headers based not on file extensions, but on file contents.
		It seemed like a strange configuration; one that requires more effort on the part of the server.
	</p>
	<p>
		I assumed this to be an accurate statement though, and tested the uploaded <code>index.xhtml</code> file to be sure the server was correctly recognising the file contents as $a[XHTML] and not $a[HTML].
		It worked, so I set about updating my compilation script to copy all <code>index.xhtml</code> to <code>index.html</code>.
		Finally done, I pushed the website update and tried the website again.
		It didn&apos;t work.
		The new indexes were recognised, but their file contents were being sent with the $a[HTML] <code>Content-Type</code> header.
		The Web server is configured exactly as I&apos;d thought it was: it uses file extensions to determine file type.
		My pages aren&apos;t renderable as $a[HTML], so this setup isn&apos;t going to work.
	</p>
</section>
<section id="drudgery">
	<h2>Drudgery</h2>
	<p>
		My discussion posts for the day:
	</p>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			I believe all events are caused by the moment prior.
			This makes everything a chain of cause and effect.
			What determined the initial configuration of the universe?
			Was there even a beginning?
			I have no idea.
			But every moment since has been predetermined based on what has happened in the past.
			With the right algorithm, you could even flawlessly predict the future.
			Of course, such an algorithm couldn&apos;t exist for reasons similar to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halting_problem">halting problem</a> in computer science.
		</p>
		<p>
			On a day-to-day basis, we theoretically have free will, except that the choices we make were decided by a combination of the situation (which was caused by the moment prior) and who we are (which was partly decided at conception, a past moment, and partly by the moments that shaped us, which are other prior moments).
			There is only one possible outcome of any decision we make, because there&apos;s only one choice we were always going to choose.
			In my opinion, we should act as though free will is actually a thing.
			Yes, everything is predetermined, but we have no way to know what the ultimate outcome is, and while there&apos;s only one chain of choices that you could ever make, you still feel like that power is in your hands.
		</p>
		<p>
			Choices being predetermined also isn&apos;t an excuse for anything on a <strong>*social*</strong> level.
			For example, if you commit murder, your choice to do so being predetermined isn&apos;t and shouldn&apos;t be a defence in court.
			If it&apos;s predetermined that you&apos;re going to commit murder, it&apos;s predetermined that you&apos;ll be caught, convicted, and sentenced, right?
			Of course, some people do get away with it, which is also predetermined, but the point remains valid.
			Your choices, predetermined or not, still have consequences.
			Good choices have consequences as well that should be considered.
		</p>
		<p>
			So I guess to sum it up, you are sort of the author of your destiny, but at the same time, what you are is shaped by the past.
			You&apos;ll make your choices based on what you are and the situation at hand, both of which are predetermined.
			Your choices, therefore, are predetermined.
		</p>
		<p>
			(Before you ask, this discussion assignment said to make <strong>*two*</strong> posts!
			My discussion on the existence of evil is the next main post down.)
		</p>
	</blockquote>
	<blockquote>
		<p>
			Why does evil exist?
			Well, the concept of evil is a social construct.
			Nothing is inherently good or evil, it just gets judged as such by humans.
			When we see something that appals us in someone else&apos;s actions, we label it as evil.
			For that matter, I even label some of my <strong>*own*</strong> natural tendencies as evil and attempt to resist the urge to act on them!
			To be clear, not every negative tendency I have is something I&apos;d label as evil.
			Evil to me isn&apos;t merely anything negative.
			For example, I have a tendency to overeat, which isn&apos;t evil, it&apos;s just unhealthy.
		</p>
		<p>
			So evil exists because the human condition is such that not everything we do or want to do matches up with everything that we thing aught to be (our morals).
			Different people have a different idea of evil (most of us share many of the basic ideas of evil, though there is some variance), so evil also exists when one person&apos;s actions don&apos;t jive with another person&apos;s moral framework.
			Evil then, is what we have when morals don&apos;t match desires and actions.
		</p>
		<p>
			Is there a god or gods?
			I doubt it.
			But if there is/are, I can only assume that they either don&apos;t care, don&apos;t have the power to fix the problems of the world, don&apos;t think it&apos;s their responsibility to help us, have a different moral framework than us, or are themself/themselves cruel and evil.
			In the case of multiple gods, there might also be some sort of rule system in place that prevents them from acting to purge evil.
			Or maybe one god wants to purge it and another wants to cause it, resulting in a deadlock that allows a lot of evil to take place.
			Maybe the gods are too busy fighting amongst themselves for them to fix the problems of us lesser beings.
		</p>
		<p>
			(Before you ask, this discussion assignment said to make <strong>*two*</strong> posts!
			My discussion on free will is the next main post up.)
		</p>
	</blockquote>
</section>
END
);
